


Alright

by Shadowbeast123



Category: Infinity Train (Cartoon)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Dreams and Nightmares, Fluff
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-13
Updated: 2020-09-13
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:46:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,150
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26423593
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowbeast123/pseuds/Shadowbeast123
Summary: In all his eight years on the train, Simon never thought he'd be so happy to see his number so low.In other words: I'm using the old "It was all a dream" cop out for the sake of Mall Rats fluff.
Relationships: Simon Laurent & Grace Monroe, Simon Laurent/Grace Monroe
Comments: 6
Kudos: 57





	Alright

Pain. That's essentially the first thing Simon's brain registers as he wakes up with a start. Just hot, searing pain all throughout his back, shoulders, head, and chest with his only real reprieve being Grace; who immediately started speaking to him in hushed tones, and drawing little circles onto his back upon seeing that he had woken up as he looked around her room, then down at his number. Seeing the glowing green digits only cover his right forearm up to his elbow, and nowhere else; which to him, was one of the biggest reliefs as he allowed himself to settle against Grace's leg.

"You okay?" Grace asked, running her fingers through his hair as he brought his arm up to lazily throw it around her waist.

"Bad dream," he said, swallowing thickly, and feeling the pain in his chest dissipate somewhat as his heart slowed back down. "What happened?"

"You got crushed by a brick wall in the Unfinished Car," Grace said, holding a bit of relief in her own voice as she moved his hair behind his ear. "Gave yourself a pretty gnarly concussion. You've been out of it for days."

"Oh, thank god," he breathed, relieved at the assurance that the events of his dream didn't happen as he moved to sit up, and saw a very distinct footprint shaped bruise on Grace's hip that was peeking out from under her shorts. "Did...Did I do this?"

"Oh, yeah. You started thrashing around earlier, and kicked me off the bed this morning," she said, shrugging the injury off like it wasn't that big of a deal as she saw her co-leader's eyes start to water. "Hey, why are you crying? It was an accident."

"I...I know, it's just...In my dream..." he stammered, trying to find his words as Grace let out a sigh, and set the book she had been holding to the side to pull him into her arms.

"It's okay," she said, hearing him let out a sniffle as he buried his face into the crook of her shoulder. "It's alright. Take it easy."

"Grace, I didn't mean to."

"I know," she said, running her fingers through his hair as he pulled himself away to avoid getting snot all over her. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"I dreamt that we didn't get out of the Unfinished car in time, and we got separated from the Apex," he said, situating himself so that Grace's legs were on either side of his waist, and his head was resting on her stomach. "We ran into a girl, Hazel. She was living in the Jungle Car with her null Tuba."

"Did you wheel the null?" Grace asked, running her fingers through Simon's hair, and feeling the still noticeable bump on the back of his head where he had knocked himself out.

"Yeah. But you weren't all that happy about it," he said, looking up her with tired eyes as she played with his hair and moved it away from his face. "Hazel was pretty attached, and you wanted to play the long game to try and wean her off of it before we got back to the Mall. I went behind your back."

"Oh, now I bet that was a big mistake," Grace said, trying to humor him a bit as he snuggled up closer to her.

"Trust me, it was," he said. "And at that point, you found out that Hazel wasn't even a passenger. She was a botched recreation of someone the F-True conductor wanted to bring back. A shapeshifting null that you started feeling empathy for. Your number was dropping like crazy because of it."

"Really?" Grace said, bringing her hand down to rub his back. "Then what happened?"

"Well, you were pretty pissed at me for going behind your back and wheeling Tuba, and you wanted to keep Hazel safe from me. So you pulled rank, and started shutting me out," Simon continued, feeling a lump form in his throat, and swallowing to get rid of it so voice didn't crack again. "And when you did that, I...I started spiraling, and went to go see Samantha. She tried to tell me that the numbers going down was a good thing, and that we were doing it all wrong. But...But when I refused to listen, she gave me these little bots that pulled out your memory tape, and showed it to me. I used it on you, and saw that you lied to me about Hazel. And...And I got so mad, that I locked you in your tape, and left you for dead. And the entire time, my number was going up. It was almost up to my neck by the time I got back to the Mall car, and took the Apex right out from under you."

"Oh...I bet I wasn't too happy about that one," she said, almost chuckling a bit as he buried his face into her shirt.

"You weren't," he mumbled as she felt him start to relax, and saw him pick his head back up to look at her. "We almost fought to the death over it out on the bridge, and I nearly wheeled you. Twice."

"Did I win?" Grace asked.

"Only by default since I got eaten by a Ghom at the end of the dream," he said, seeing her look of mock offense as she playfully swatted him on the shoulder. "Ouch."

"Jerk," she said, giving him a playful grin as he looked up at her with tears still in his eyes. "Hey, come on. You know none of that stuff really happened."

"Doesn't make the fact that I betrayed you and got eaten by a Ghom any less jarring," he said, holding back another sniffle as Grace sighed, and pulled him up a little closer to her face to press a warm kiss to his forehead. His cheeks glowing a bright red in the dim lighting of her room as she pressed another kiss to the bridge of his nose, temple...Basically anywhere on his face until the corners of his mouth turned up into a shy smile that he tried to hide behind his hair.

"Don't start acting shy. I see that smile," she said, pressing another kiss to the corner of his mouth before he squirmed out of her arms, and buried his tomato red face into the crook of her neck as she giggled. Running her fingers down his back, and drawing small circles into his aching muscles with her fingers as she heard him let out an embarrassed grumble, and pressed another kiss to the top of his head.

"I'm sorry I kicked you," he mumbled.

"Don't worry about it. It was an accident," she said, tucking his hair behind his ear as he nuzzled up against the area between her neck and shoulder. "Although, in all seriousness. If you ever betray me and lock me in my memory tape. I'm beating your ass."

"I know," he said, almost chuckling at the threat as he brought his face back up to look at her. "But if you ever leave me for a null, I won't hesitate to fight you for dominance."

"Good luck with that. You can't even beat me in a sparring session if you tried," she quipped.

"I don't know. I've been working on my technique a little," he said in an almost sing-song tone as Grace gave a playful roll of her eyes, and held back another laugh when his stomach growled loudly and interrupted the moment.

"Come on, Socks-with-sandals. Let's get you some food," she said, wiggling out from under him, and getting up from the bed to head to the food court as Simon followed suit, and stretched his arms above his head. Feeling his muscles shift back into place with a multitude of satisfying pops and cracks as he followed her into the kitchen, and grabbed an apple to hopefully satisfy him until morning. "So, what did the conductor have to say when you saw him in your dream?"

"Nothing good," he said, taking a bite out of his apple. " _She_ was an old British woman with a number all the way up to her neck. Claimed that One-One was the real true conductor, and said that the whole purpose for the train was to work through our issues, and get our numbers down to zero rather than keep them high and stay on here."

"Seriously?" Grace asked, seeing him nod as he swallowed the apple in his mouth. "That sounds ridiculous. Why would anyone want to leave the train?"

"Well, I mean...It has been about eight years since either of us have seen either of our families," Simon said, giving off a sheepish shrug in a half-hearted attempt to rationalize something told to him by someone he wasn't even sure existed outside of his head. "I don't know about mine. But surely yours is bound to be worried sick about you. Not a lot of wealthy socialites get a good look when their only child disappears into thin air because they got kidnapped by a magical train."

"Please," Grace scoffed with a roll of her eyes. "If I know my parents, they probably had a do-over kid just to save face. Even if what this 'True Conductor' said to you was true, I doubt either of us really have anyone waiting by the door for us to come back."

"Fair enough," he said, taking another bite from his apple. "Although, promise me something. If there's ever a point where I spiral and start going full anime villain, punch me as hard as you can and knock me out."

"Why the hell would you want me to promise you that?!"

"Because that's exactly what happened in my dream. And if something happens where I have to take over as leader, I'd rather it not be at the expense of my sanity," he said, reaching back into the fridge to get a bottle of water as he saw his number start going down just from being honest with her, and quickly covering the area with his sleeve so she wouldn't see. "Apex needs a leader with a good head on their shoulders. And I can't do that if I'm constantly threatening to wheel anybody who dares to question my authority."

"Simon, you're not going to do that," Grace said, her tone coming off more sympathetic than authoritative as Simon took a sip from his water. "I've seen you lead the Apex whenever I'm sick. You're great at it."

"Grace, I'm not 'great' at anything. I'm just an eighteen year old kid playing soldier, who refuses to admit when he's wrong half the time, and is reluctant to change because he always has to control something," he said, seeing his vision blur with frustrated tears as Grace placed her hands on his shoulders.

"Well, even if you are all those things. You're still a decent leader," she said, wiping his eyes off with the pad of her thumb. "I mean, if a simple three day nightmare is going to send you into a frenzy to add more procedures to the Apex's guidebook on what to do in case one of it's leaders goes crazy. It's pretty clear your priorities lie more on protecting me and the rest of the kids rather than trying to out rank me, and take over my role as leader just because I felt sorry for a null."

"This isn't about rank, Grace," Simon said, setting his water bottle down, and bringing his hand up to hold hers against his cheek. "It's about what I became. I...I was toxic, and aggressive...And it was all because you were more willing to accept change, and admit that you were wrong. I thought you were going to leave me, and-"

"Simon, enough," Grace said firmly. "You're not any of those things. If you were, you would've thrown me to the wheels a long time ago, and you definitely wouldn't be bringing yourself to tears over it when none of it even happened."

"I just don't want to hurt you," he whimpered, holding back another sob as Grace pressed another kiss to his lips.

"You won't," she said, seeing him blush. "Try as you might. We both know who will win that battle."

"I...I guess you're right," he said, trying to ignore the burning in his face as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"When have I ever been wrong?"

"More times than I'm willing to tell you," he said, giving off a slight chuckle as she swatted him playfully on the arm with a grin.

"I'm going back to bed," she said, turning to go back to her room as Simon took another bite of his apple. "Feel free to join me when you're finished."


End file.
